Gravity-Independent and Gravity-Related Inertia Fields

Abstract

Abstract. This paper first assesses under what conditions the Higgs field has "no deep connection" to gravity, i.e. it is gravity-independent, and also whether it has a connection with or conflicts with other proposed inertia-causing fields such as the vacuum-reaction force. Then it develops a classical consistent field strength (CFS) framework to support analysis of inertia fields that are gravity-related, which seems likely in the case of vacuum-reaction inertia. The framework can produce important exact solutions to Einstein's field equation. When used with alternative formulations it guarantees equivalence and conservative fields over a wide range of field choices from traditional metric spacetime to background-embedded to emergent space-time. A short worked-out gravity-related inertia field example is given. New perspectives on spin and self-gravitation issues are discussed.Keywords: Inertia, gravity, space-time, general relativity, Higgs field, vacuum energy IntroductionSince the 1960s physicists have been engaged in developing theories of rest mass, or inertia, at the quantum level. The most widely followed such theory is the Higgs mechanism [1], boosted by the recent discovery of its boson [2]. By interactions with the non-zero Higgs field, particles which would otherwise be traveling at the speed of light appear to manifest some of their energy as rest mass. There are at least superficially differing perspectives on the relation -or not -between particle physics and gravity. For example, the chief U.S. theoretician for the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) says there is "no deep connection" between Higgs and gravity. 1 By contrast Weinberg, Nobel laureate particle physicist, expressed frustration in the preface to his textbook on gravity that the "deep connection" between gravitational and particle physics was obscured, and voiced that inertia and equivalence are a legitimate starting point for the discussion of gravity [3]:[In] textbooks geometric ideas were given a starring role, so that a student who asked why the gravitational field is represented by a metric tensor [or] . This one has a smaller number of backers, but they do relate it to gravity, at least as far as time dilation, from which only weak field agreement has been be obtained [5][6]. Meanwhile notions of the scope of the Higgs theory were gradually broadening beyond just the W and Z bosons. With data coming in, the Higgs field is confirmed and even if its properties are not fully known they are the subject of one of the best organized and well financed experimental programs in history. So, we expect further data.